Chapter 6: Mercenary Advice
Daytime in Arissanrith is no different from the desert.
When Lear woke up from his sticky, sour sweat, the sun had just shone on the big half of the little red horse's ass in front of him.
All he wanted was a bucket of cold water to drench himself from head to toe, but unfortunately the stables in the town center didn't provide such a high-level service, and he didn't have a magic scroll that could condense a drop of water.
It's time to get out of this hellish place and start a new life, Lear thought to himself.
But first, we have to deal with the horses and the booty.
After arriving at the center of the town and asking for the direction of the market, Lear walked alone with four horses to the northwest of the town, and a thirteen-year-old child led the reins in front of several desert horses taller than the others, which looked a little strange from the way, because many people along the way cast curious glances at Lear, but these curiosities were more or less greedy.
Fortunately, it was broad daylight, and the silver coin he paid when he entered the city at least gave him the safety to walk in the sun, after all, the majesty of the law would still be respected in front of everyone's eyes, this was the rule of the game, and as for what happened in secret, who knows.
After entering the bazaar, Lear spent two coppers and asked the old man who sold the carvings to help him write a sign, and then he hid in the shadows under the ginger tea shed and began his first lesson of the dayβshouting.
"Take a look at it, take a look, the purebred sweat and blood BMW from the Western Regions, free shipping with the wind, automatic stable, 100 kilometers of grain consumption two catties of soybeans and four catties of hay, fat and fat legs are only five gold coins per horse, you can't buy five gold coins, you can't buy five gold coins, you can't buy five gold coins, but you can buy my BMW to experience the feeling of galloping, come and take a look!"
This kind of dog blood advertisement in the two-dollar store in the later generations actually attracted a large group of people to stop and watch in front of Lear's horses, of course, not because of how good his horses are, because a discerning person can see through him at a glance These horses are just the most ordinary desert bantam horses, and the quality is a little better than that of mules.
"Young man, your horse is not bad, but the price is a bit inflated, how about ten gold coins, I can ask for it." β
After a brief bustle, Lear finally welcomed his first customer of the day, a middle-aged fat man who looked like a merchant, and was about to wrap him up as soon as he opened his mouth.
Before leaving, Lear inquired in the center of the town, the current market price of a prime-aged male horse is about three gold coins, the mare is more expensive but can only be sold for four gold coins, is that he three males and one female four horses each quoted five is indeed inflated, but the business is not a sky-high asking price to sit on the ground to pay back, the inflated price is just to scare away those who watch the excitement, really meet someone who sits down and talks slowly.
"You can only buy three horses for ten gold coins, but you can get these equipment on horseback. β
"Yes, but let me pick and choose. β
The fat man groaned for a moment, and it almost cost a gold coin for each horse to buy a saddle rope or something, so it seemed that he would not suffer a loss.
"Deal!"
Just as the fat man finished picking the horse and put one hand into the money bag to pay, an abrupt voice sounded from outside the field.
"Wait!"
Then several well-dressed but obscene-looking men squeezed through the crowd and walked in, the first of whom thought he was dashing and had a straw stick in his mouth to show that he was different.
The onlookers saw that these people showed disgust and fear, and the originally dense circle unnaturally spread a lot.
The straw stick man saw this scene, and the corners of his mouth rose slightly, and he was obviously very proud of the effect of his appearance.
"Do you pay your taxes for doing business here?"
He looked at Lear, then at Lear's horses, and finally at the middle-aged fat man, who pulled out the hand that had reached into his arms as soon as the straw stick man entered.
"I had already paid it when I entered the city, and the people in the town center didn't tell me that there was an extra tax to be paid at the market. β
Lear looked at the straw stick man and said calmly, but he was thinking in his heart that killing people in broad daylight wouldn't cause any commotion, right?
If his identity as a magician is exposed, will there be any danger, in case he is targeted by a great demon king of the mixed world and slapped to death, won't he die before he can get out of the master?
Do you want to spend money to eliminate the disaster, first send these ruffians away, and then have a tail-tailed idiot like last night? God unknowingly took them to a nest and made them black and black, and the thought of the money he had obtained from Master Brown swelled out of control in Lear's heart, and he looked at the straw stick man again, and his eyes suddenly looked like he was looking at a lamb that had been stripped and washed and waiting to be served.
The straw stick man was uncomfortable stared at by Lear's hot eyes, and in order to hide his embarrassment, he tried his best to show a fierce look.
"If I say I want to pay, I have to pay!
When his hand had already touched the dagger in his arms, ready to teach him a lesson with the kid in front of him if he said a word, Lear backed down.
"And how much should I pay?"
"Three, no! five gold coins!"
Obviously, when he was on the periphery just now, the straw stick man had heard the result of Lear's discussion with the fat man, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he asked for half of the transaction between the two.
A thin palm with five glittering orange gold coins lay flat in front of him.
"Forehead ......"
The straw stick man, who was about to say a few more cruel words, suddenly saw the gold coin in front of him, and forgot what he should say for a while, but instead he grabbed the gold coin in Lear's hand and left an arrogant look of 'count you know' before pushing away from the crowd.
Then Lear extended his right hand to the fat man beside him.
"Sir, is our deal okay?"
"Oooh oh. β
The fat man reacted after a while, and the fat fat hand took out ten gold coins from his arms and put them on Lear's white palm, then took the horse rope and turned to leave, as if he was not willing to stay for a moment.
Lear didn't care, and led the rest of the horse in the direction that the stick man had left, the morning sun falling on his eyes, stretching his back like a cunning fox.
............
By the time Lear finds the Straw Stick Man in the barren meadow behind a dilapidated house, he already has the shape of a pig's head, and the iconic fork artifact he was proud of now fills his nostrils and mouth, leaving him in tears while his mouth can only make a 'whine' sound.
Like a dog.
So it was cut off, Lear thought depressedly.
He walked over to the straw stick man and kicked him in the ass, and the bad guy who had just been a bad guy had only a look of horror in his eyes, and he struggled to retreat, but Lear stepped on his shin.
"Where's my money?"
Lear pulled out the straw that filled the man's nostrils and mouth, and while he was happy to let the ruffian suffer a little longer, he was more concerned about where his gold coins.
"With us. β
When the voice rang out from behind Lear, the straw stick man in front of him crawled backwards with his hands and feet as if he had seen a ghost, and the back plank blocked his escape route, and then he suddenly burst out with the greatest courage in his life and crashed straight out of the wooden wall, leaving a humanoid hole and a cloud of wood chips on the ground, and Lear soon could no longer see his back.
Fear is indeed a source of strength.
Lear turned around, helplessly finding himself in the same situation as he had been last night.
Could it be that Lao Tzu's specialty is 100% surrounded by robbery and extortion?
This made him very depressed.
A bearded warrior, a young warrior, well, and a female warrior, three steel swords wrinkled and glittered in the sunlight as if they were going to crush Lear into an ant in the dust.
Why are they all warriors? Lao Tzu is just a mage who doesn't know if he has a rank! Is this distance of less than ten paces asking me to disarm and surrender directly?
Lear's heart was crying.
However, it is of no avail.
"I have a suggestion. β
The female warrior took a step forward and said.
"Beautiful lady, I would like to hear about it. β
"Sir, you can hire us for twenty gold coins, after all, we are mercenaries, not robbers. β
The female warrior obviously remembered what the boss said, after all, for a real warrior, most people are still willing to protect the dignity of the god of war, Adis, unless they are forced to do so.
"Do you count the five gold coins you snatched from that man? β
Seeing that there was a possibility of reconciliation, Lear immediately beat the snake with the stick, and the nature of the profiteer was exposed, but from beginning to end, his spiritual power never left the magic scroll, if there was any violent robbery by these people on the other side, then he must throw the other party a Pikachu to taste it as soon as possible.
As for whether there is still a chance to send out a second magic arrow under the siege of the three great sword warriors, that is something that needs to be considered later.
Killing one doesn't lose and killing two earns, that's what Lear really thinks.
Give money? non-existent. That's fate!
"Count!"
Seeing that the young man next to him was angry, the female warrior was afraid that he would make some drastic moves, so she hurriedly agreed.
"Okay, I declare that you have been hired by me, but Master Ben has decided to pay in installments, and the five gold coins just now will be my deposit for you, and the balance will be paid in three installments every Monday until I no longer need you. β
Lear's cannon-like words stunned the three of them, and the new word for installment payment was unheard of, but for mercenaries, as long as the employer confirmed it, the contract was established, and unless they were willing to bear the reputation of cowards and losers, there was no possibility of breaking the contract.
Three people, you look at me, I look at you. So you sold yourself without getting a penny?
"What? You want to break the contract?"
Seeing that no one responded to him, Lear asked in wonder, wondering if he had played with fire and then he would have thrown himself into the street, and then the female warrior stepped forward and raised her two-handed big sword flat on her chest.
"Lena. β
"Kurdish. β
"Jimmy. β
Watching the three of them complete the ceremony of concluding the contract in front of him, Lear grinned triumphantly.
He pressed his palms lightly on top of each other of the three great swords.
"Hello everyone, I'm your Lord Lear. β
......